The mute talker and the talking mute
by Crowha
Summary: Why try to talk if you can't communicate. Why try to communicate if you can't talk. The little story of a mute musician and a dancing machine.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello there ! Before you start reading this little story, I wanted to apologies for its mediocre quality. This is my first fanfiction, and also probably the longest text I've ever written, so I'm sorry a part of it if not everything sounds a bit clumsy. It's also the first time I try writing in English (which I've only been studying for a few years) so there will probably be quite a few mistakes. I still hope it will be somehow enjoyable ^^' Feel free to give me your critics, I'm looking forward to any kind of feedback. Without further ado I wish you a fun time reading !_

Chapter 1 : Melody in the night

It had been a wonderful day. Autumn had already started to paint the world in red and gold, and had also greeted everybody with two weeks of rain. But no cloud had dared to cover the sun today.

The falling leaves started to dance under the setting lights as a slight breeze rustled through the gardens of the League. For a moment, their stretching shadows seemed to take life, as if they were celebrating the end of the day.

It had truly been a wonderful day...

...right ?" Orianna thought to herself as she slowly walked down a large corridor.

Most of the other champions had stopped what they were doing and were now admiring the spectacular sunset through the windows and from the gardens. They seemed happy.

"And sunlight makes happy. So it has to be a wonderful day. " concluded the young woman. Satisfied with her analysis, she took a better hold of the heavy bag she was carrying and continued her walk down the corridor.

During yet another contest to see who would make the strongest alcohol, Ziggs and Singed had blown up a part of the women dormitories. The involved champions had, much to their demies, been forced to move to a new location.

But it didn't bother Orianna. She hadn't felt any kind of attachment to her room, nor to the stuff she had lost in the fire that had followed the explosion. After the incident, she had just picked up what she could still use and followed the other homeless champions.

Those were now gathering in front of the crystal windows of the corridor in order to catch a last glimpse at the slowly fading sun. Orianna sighed, deciding to leave them behind and find the way to her new room on her own. She actually knew the way perfectly, since she had a precise map of the League engraved in her memory, but a randomness factor had been added to her "mind" in order to make her reactions more human.

She lost herself twice before a summoner was kind enough to show her the way.

The place was bigger than her former residence, but was also very empty, as most of her furniture had burnt. In the living room, a lonely rocking-chair was facing an empty shelf, and in her bedroom, the bed was missing a mattress. The rest of her rescued possessions fit in the wooden trunk at the end of her bed : a few clothes, two books, a can of oil, a rusty tea-pot, a mug, a framed picture of her "father", and her biggest treasure, an old gramophone. After a short reflexion, she took that last one back out of the trunk. It was only 10 p.m., she still had time for one last dance.

Since she was "born", dancing had always been something very important to her : it had always been something very satisfying.

That's how she worked : she couldn't "feel" emotions, but doing certain things brought her satisfaction. That included fighting and winning games, but also acting like a human...and dancing.

She had memorized each piece of music in her large collection, movement by movement, tune by tune. With each dance, her moves had become more perfect as she was slowly overcoming her randomness factor.

But before she started dancing to a music, she had to analyse it precisely. She didn't understand nor did she care about the feelings the composer wanted to transmit. It was rather a mathematical dissection : every note was carefully taken out, observed, then put back, in order to find out what logical links bound her to the others, what role she played in the immense structure of the music.

It was only once everything was understood, once every tune was explainable, that Orianna could start dancing to the music.

She actually just had finished analysing her newest acquired piece, and was eager to start dancing to it. She went back into her living room, carefully carrying the gramophone, her companion following her closely. She put the old machine on the shelf, and turned around as she ordered her ball to push the rocking-chair aside in order to make some space.

But she stopped in the middle of her motion as a new information popped into her "mind" :

"My whole vinyl collection is gone."

She knew her face was simulating a sad expression, maybe even a crying one, but she didn't really care.

She sighed.

"It's the second time today, that never happened" she thought "Well, it's all replaceable...expensive, but replaceable."

And with that she decided it would be best to prepare for the night.

She showered quickly, cleaning her gears from all the old oil and dirt that had accumulated along the day. After using the drier function of her ball, she greased her joints with fresh oil, rewound her spring, put on a black nightgown, and went back into the living room.

It was already dark outside, but she decided not to go to sleep just yet. Her randomness factor sometimes caused her to have such unexplainable mood changes. She pulled the rocking-chair in front of the large window in her living room, and slowly sat down, contemplating the clear night sky.

"One day I'll have to take a closer look at all these stars. There has to be some kind of logic behind constellations. Why else would people find them so beautiful ?" she mused.

But her meditation was interrupted by her suddenly feeling something. She immediately reactivated all of her sensors to determine the nature of what she had felt.

It was a sound, that her human simulation system classified as "enjoyable", and that didn't have any direct meaning : it was music.

But something was quite odd : Orianna felt satisfied.

"I haven't danced yet. I haven't even started analysing it." she realised.

It was unsettling, and even more exciting : she didn't discover new ways to satisfy herself every so often. Even though it was now quite late, the young woman's curiosity had been piqued, and she decided to stay up a bit longer to analyse the music.

She applied algorithm after algorithm, separating what she had heard and was still hearing into tiny fragments, comparing them, reassembling them, then separating them again. But the more she worked on it, the more complex it became. What started to appear wasn't just a simple logical structure : every tune seemed to have his very own meaning, and what held those tunes together wasn't just plain logic.

Her process of thought was interrupted as a second sound joined the first. It was a voice, coming from the room above hers :

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT FUCKING TIME IT IS ?! YOU'D BETTER FUCKING STOP THIS SHIT YOU FUCKING MIKU-WANNABE, OR NEXT TIME I SEE YOU I'LL MAKE MYSELF A SECOND KITTY CAT SKIN WITH THESE FUCKING UGLY PONYTAILS OF YOURS !"

"Weird" Orianna thought, still deep in her analysis "just as I thought it couldn't get any more complex. How does this fit into the harmony. It really doesn't make any sense."

She decided to process the voice later, and went back to the music. The latter had, to her uppermost disappointment, stopped at the same time as the voice. All she had left was the part she had recorded.

She sighed. And realised it was the third time in one day.

An idea had sprouted in her "mind" a while back, but she had considered her to be too absurd and had that for rejected her.

This very idea was now making her way back into her thoughts, not seeming so unreasonable anymore. The more she thought about it, the more those tunes resembled a language.

Everything in her "mind" was telling her it was music, and not a song of some sort, but it also seemed far too complex to not hold any further meaning.

Realising she wouldn't be doing any big breakthrough this night, Orianna decided to go to bed. She slipped under her cover, and turned of the lights. The lack of mattress didn't really bother her, but it still felt strange.

As her consciousness slowly faded into the dark emptiness of her sleep, somewhere in her "mind" she hoped she could one day listen to more of this strange music.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello again ! Sorry for the long wait, but I've got my exams coming up and it's hard to find the time to write. I'm still happy I managed to somehow write this chapter. I'll be working on the third whenever I find a moment ^^' I hope you'll enjoy this one (despite the numerous mistakes). See you in chapter 3 !_

Chapter 2 : An interesting neighbour

The next day was quite a busy one. Orianna had two matches in the morning, and a third one in the later afternoon. The Katarina she faced during her first two matches was so exhausted that she won both games without any trouble. She even ended up at 20/0 on her second match, a score of which she knew she should be proud. But she wasn't. She just felt satisfied.

As a reward for her hard work, she decided to go to the League's Mess Hall, were many champions and summoners gathered to have their meals. She wasn't technically able to eat, but she enjoyed watching others do. She always tried to imagine which thoughts and feelings each one associated to the different tastes and textures. It had become a sort of game, the only sad part being that she had no one to tell her whether she was right or not. So she just sat in her corner, alone at her table, silently observing the room as people came and left.

People avoiding her had been quite frustrating at the beginning, but she had since long given up on trying to understand why nobody talked to her, and had just grown accustomed to the silence. That may have been why she was so surprised to suddenly hear her name being yelled across the room by a very loud voice. Her thoughts of a possible new friendship stayed buried away, but deep inside she still felt a slight tingle of hope.

Though that hope died instantly at the sight of a furious Katarina rushing towards her. If Orianna could have gulped, she would have. Instead, her ball cliqued nervously.

Finally reaching her, Katarina pushed aside the chair that was facing Orianna, causing it to loudly fall to the ground, and slammed her fist on the table.

"NOW LISTEN UP? YOU FUCKING TIN CAN!" the raging redhead began...but the worried looks of nearby sitting Braum and Taric made her lower her voice."If you think you'll ever be able to 5/0 me again, you're making a very, very big mistake! You just got lucky I wasn't at my best today. So you'd better not get too full of yourself, or I'll teach you how to feel fear, you got me?"

Orianna stayed silent for a while. She knew how bad she was at handling emotions, and Katarina's impulsiveness was well known.

"Pardon me, but it seems you've made a mistake. If I remember correctly, it was actually a 20/0, and not a 5/0 like you previously stated." was all she came up with.

If Orianna had never conceived the idea of a human exploding by himself, she was now facing something very much like it.

She felt like Katarina was inflating. The noxian opened her mouth, and for a moment it seemed like she was trying to shout using more than one voice. Her rage literally choked her, and all that came out was a dangerous gargling. But her eyes perfectly expressed her thoughts: "DIE!".

Before any of them could do anything else, a heavy armoured gauntlet grabbed Katarina's shoulder.

"That will be enough young lady" a deep voice rumbled "you wouldn't want to shame the Du Couteau, would you?"

Katarina spun around, fist raised, but stopped at the very imposing sight of the Hand of Noxus. Darius' expression made it very clear that he wasn't expecting any reply.

"Besides, weren't you looking for someone else?" he added.

Katarina hesitated for a moment, but then flicked her tongue and stormed away. With a silent nod towards Orianna, Darius calmly followed her.

Left alone, Orianna stayed silent, lost in her thoughts. " _Why was this woman angry at me? Didn't she help me achieve this honourable score...in a way? Why can't she be happy about it? Does it have something to do with her noxian culture?_ "

When she finally came back to the real world, the room was almost empty. The few people left had gathered around Ziggs and Singed who were fighting about the results of their last contest. Not in the least interested by their quarrel, Orianna decided to leave.

* * *

It had been over an hour since she had headed back to her apartment. She was sitting on her rocking chair, her ball silently resting on her knees. Since she didn't have any music to dance to, she had decided to make a list of all the vinyl she had lost to the flames. She was just counting down the four arias of an ionian opera called "The capture of the Golden Demon" when it happened.

Shattering the heavy silence, the mysterious music echoed through her room. Orianna immediately forgot the opera and entirely focused on the sound.

She had decided earlier this morning that she would start her analysis over again, considering she was now working on a language rather than a piece of music. The process of thought was new but she quickly got used to it. Her ball was circling around her, clicking with excitement.

After half an hour, she was able to determine a first pattern resembling a word. After another thirty minutes, she had two more.

An hour passed, then another, and the number grew more and more. She even started to be able to form entire sentences. These words didn't have any sense yet, and her sentences didn't carry any meaning either, but the links were certainly there, and they were not random. Analysing how the sentences were built, Orianna determined this language to be close to an old ionian dialect.

But before she could follow up this lead any further, the music was interrupted by a loud noise. Someone was banging on the door. Not hers, as she soon realized, but the one from the apartment next to hers.

Soon after the banging stopped, she heard a now familiar voice shout:

"NOW LISTEN CAREFULLY YOU GOOD-FOR-NOTHING SUPPORT! Today I got fucking humiliated because I couldn't sleep last night! So if I ever hear any sound coming from your room again, you'll have to ask Jhin to lend you one of his spare masks, 'cause I'm gonNA FUCKING CRUSH YOUR FACE, you got me ?"

Before she knew what she was doing, Orianna jumped up and rushed towards her door. Her mind was in utter chaos as she slammed it open and walked out into the corridor. Surprised by the loud slam, Katarina turned around.

"Tin can?!"

Too many thoughts were shooting through Orianna's "mind". She stood there, hesitant as to what to do next.

" _Why did I react like that? Why am I standing here? Why did the music have to stop again? Why is Katarina stopping it? I want to listen to it. Doesn't she want me to analyse it? Doesn't she want me to dance to it? I want to listen to it. Does she hate me? How can I make the music come back? I want to listen to it..._ "

She could feel her face distorting as it tried to adapt to the quick succession of emotions she should be feeling. Its sight had to be quite frightening because Katarina's eyes widened as she took a step back.

"Hey! I'm talking to you! What do you want, tin can? You're looking for a fight?"

As an answer, Orianna's ball came out through her door, slowly levitating. It was reacting to her confused state in an even more frightening way than her face. Its gears were going wild, blades popping out and disappearing again, and the whole engine was making a very threatening sound.

A single drop of sweat pearled down Katarina's temple. She shuddered at the memory of her painful morning.

"You'd better do something about that robot neighbour of yours or she's gonna fucking slice us to pieces."

A sudden movement in the slightly opened door Katarina had been facing drew Orianna's attention. She hadn't noticed until then, but a blue-haired girl was standing on the other side. This girl was now looking at her ball, her eyes widened in fear.

Orianna recognised her as being Sona. She tried to remember what she knew about her, but she had never spoken with her and only knew her to be quite the renowned musician. Looking at her, Orianna wondered if this young woman was the one making the music she so longed for.

Finally putting some order into her thoughts, she decided to take action.

"Why do you want the music to stop?" she asked Katarina.

The latter seemed quite surprised by the sudden question, and took a moment before coming up with an answer.

"I can't sleep when she plays her shitty music. And when I don't sleep I get beaten by shitty champions like you!"

"But why do you want the music to stop?"

"I just told you, fucking tin can! Are you fucking..."

"I thought humans only sleep at night. The sun hasn't set yet. Why do you want the music to stop?"

"Fucking robot! You think you're such a smartass, huh ?" but giving the ball a careful look, she continued "You're lucky I'm not in the mood to fight today...Fine then, the music stops once the night falls !"

"You got that?!" she added, glaring at Sona.

The musician nodded, and with a last glance at Orianna's ball, which had ceased to move, closed her door.

"Now I don't wanna see your face again today, am I clear tin can?" Katarina snarled at Orianna, before walking away.

But the girl wasn't paying attention anymore. Everything she cared about was the music's origin. Feeling a strange urge to ask Sona about it, she knocked on her door repeatedly.

The answer soon came in the form of a paper slipped under the door.

"Katarina,

I'm really sorry I disturbed you. But I promised

I won't ever play at night again, so please let me be.

Sona"

Puzzled by this unexpected response, Orianna took the message and went back to her apartment. She had no intention to give it a rushed next match coming soon, she decided to take her time to make a proper response afterwards. Leaving the paper on her bed, she went to the bathroom to prepare for the upcoming battle.


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter three is finally here ! Sorry it took so long ^^' I hope you'll still enjoy. See you soon in the next chapter._

Chapter 3 : A bird's wisdom  


Orianna tried not to think about how to answer Sona's letter during her match, in order to concentrate on the battle. And she remarkably failed at it.

Absent-minded, she started to walk down midlane, before she noticed she had forgotten to buy her items. After she hurried back to base, where the merchant gave her a mocking smirk, she ran back to her outer turret. The battle had already started, and minions were falling on both sides. She randomly threw a few blades at the enemy creeps. She knew she had to start farming effectively, but her thoughts were elsewhere.

" _She thinks I'm Katarina. I have to make clear that I'm not. But if I do it too obviously, she'll get the suspicion that I might be Katarina just trying to lure her out. And then I won't be able to talk to her. But how to answer? She wrote a letter. Shall I answer in the same way? Is it some kind of ionian tradition? I've never heard of any demacian doing such thing. On the other hand, I'm not that well knowledged in either traditions. The safest is probably to answer in the same way. But do I slip the paper through my door, or through hers? People might take it if it stays in the corridor for too long. So it's probably best if I slip it under her door, even if it implies breaking the pattern. And what should I write? The message was short, I should do the same. How could I start?_ "

Out of nowhere, an orb of black and green magic hit her left spell slowly spread, deforming the metal and crushing the gears until the arm fell off. Orianna's face distorted to express the most atrocious pain, and she fell to her knees, her body mimicking a fake panting.

But she barely took notice. Her lips formed silent words as she desperately tried to find the right formula to start her message. Only the deep murmur of a malicious voice broke her concentration and made her look up.

"Well, young miss…Could you at least try to make it look like you're fighting back? It's already shameful enough to slay you without having to face any resistance."

Swain was standing a few meters away, his head slightly tilted as he looked down at her. Tiny green flames disappeared I his palm as his hand went up to caress the head of the huge bird that was sitting on his shoulder.

Orianna half-heartedly raised her other arm and ordered her ball to fly forward. It rushed towards the noxian's head, blades popped out, but the latter had no trouble dodging it. The ball stopped behind him, and opened along its midsection...an releasing a shock-wave.

Swain was pulled back, ripped of his feet as the vortex violently swung him through the air. But as he reached the summit of his flight, the mage covered himself in black smoke. A split second later, a giant demonic beast of a bird bursted out of it with a terrifying roar, flying out of the reach of the ball's shockwave. The sky went dark as Swain conjured a swarm of ravens that covered the sun. Those immaterial birds rushed towards Orianna, flying through her and ripping off a bit of her life energy each time.

Swain, still in his demon form, softly landed right in front of her. The beast bowed down, and two of his claws closed around her chin, almost gently. He slowly raised her face so she could look into his three pairs of blood red eyes.

"Something seems to really be worrying you, young miss. May I inquire what it is? I really do not appreciate my fight right now. I usually never waste my time, and I do not intend to start now. So if I may, I'd like to solve this matter quickly in order to continue our match as soon as possible." the demon croaked.

With each raven that flew through her, Orianna's consciousness slowly faded. She knew what was coming, but she didn't care. Her thoughts were back at her letter. Her remaining arm fell to her side, and her eyelids slowly got heavier and heavier. " _Sona…_ " was her last thought.

And then she was swallowed by darkness.

She respawned a few seconds later. As always, her mind was blurry, and the sudden light blinded her. She blinked a few times, and headed back to her lane, trying not to stumble.

When she arrived, she was quite surprised to see her tower being still intact, and her minions even pushing forward. She looked around, afraid at the thought Swain might have left to deliver a surprise attack on another lane. But, to her relief, she rapidly spotted him.

He was sitting on the rock wall which lead to the river, his cane laying to his side. He was scratching his bird's neck. From time to time, he lazily raised his other hand to throw an orb of dark magic at a dying minion. Wondering for a short moment why the noxian seemed so relaxed, Orianna decided it would be best to use the opportunity, while he was still being non-aggressive, to continue working on her letter.

But as she walked into Swain's vision field, the man looked up.

"Hah! Finally…" he muttered, and winked her to come over. Confused, Orianna hesitated, but seeing as he insisted, she slowly walked up to him, her ball close to her, just in case.

"So!" the noxian started when she finally stood in front of the rock he was using as a seat. "What is it that makes you unable to show me the skills you used this very morning on our poor Miss Du Couteau? If it weren't for your metallic heart, I'd say a love affair…But that is not the case, is it?"

More and more confused, Orianna silently nodded.

"Well then, what may it be? Did you have a major breakthrough in feeling human emotions? I guess not, since Blitzcrank and Viktor would be all over you if it were to be so. No, it has to be something more subtle, and yet complex enough to keep your mind occupied. A magical artefact? Art maybe? Or an existential question? Or maybe even a person's mind?"

"…I'm just trying to write a letter…" the overwhelmed girl stuttered. " _Why is he asking so many questions? Why does he even care? And why am I telling him?_ "

"Oh…" Swain was clearly disappointed. "Then I guess I guess it must be quite the important one. May I inquire whom you are writing to?"

"I'm confused as to why you would care. This matter has nothing to do with you. Are you trying to gather information you could use against me in order to get an easier victory?"

"Thinking I would have to rely on such tricks in order to defeat you would be quite the mistake. It seems you are underestimating me, young girl. Well, it's true that I don't look as dangerous as my fellow teammates, but still. Even an old man like me can have his pride hurt, you know? To get back to the subject: no, I am not trying to trick you. I was merely proposing my assistance. Your absent-mindedness has made the match quite boring up until now, and I was hoping…"

"So you're offering a truce in order to help me? I'd never have imagined you noxians to be capable of such kindness."

"Again, you are misjudging me. Kindness? Hah! Who do you think I am? A nice grandpa that gives candy to the kids. Don't make me laugh. I'm just tired of slaughtering young girls that don't even squeal when I rip of their limbs. This is getting ridiculous…I withdraw my offer. Think about what to write to your "daddy" as much as you want, I'll be finishing this battle quickly."

And with that, Swain took his cane and jumped of his rock. Despite his age and physical condition, he still seemed surprisingly agile. Raising his free arm, he sent his bird flying high above Orianna's head. The animal's eyes gleamed as it opened its beak, magic gathering in its throat.

But Orianna didn't notice. She was completely lost. " _Why do people always react in such radical ways? And why did he change his attitude so quickly ? Besides, why would he think I'm writing to my "father"_? I'm writing to Sona…"

It took her a second to realize she had said that last part out loud. But at the mention of this name, Swain's face turned to stone. He clenched the hand he had just raised into a fist, and the magic in the bird's beak died instantly.

"Why are you writing to the Maven of Strings?" His voice was tense.

Orianna looked up, surprised at the sight of his rigid stature.

"I thought you just said you weren't interested anymore..." Orianna's "mind" had reached its limit. " _Why? What? Why? What? Why?..._ "

"Humans can be impulsive. They change their mind quickly, so get used to it. Now let's not lose any more time: what is it you want to tell the Maven of Strings?"

Orianna finally gave up on understanding this man's line of thought, and surrendered.

"I wish to know more about a strange kind of music that comes from her apartment from time to time."

Swain's eyes narrowed "Strange kind of music? I understand you not being able to appreciate her art; rare are those who truly perceive its sublimity; but at least show some respect!"

"I did not intend to be disrespectful. But this music was just so unique, so different, that I came to doubt about its true nature. This music had me react in totally new ways. I had never experienced anything like that before."

"Now now…Are you telling me the Maven's music made you actually "feel" ? "

"No. I know very well that such a thing is impossible. But it made me satisfied. It was surprisingly enjoyable."

"Of course it was! Well if you intend to compliment her, I can be helpful. I have to admit it wouldn't be my first time writing such a letter."

For a second, Swain's usually sharp eyes seemed to aimlessly wander, his gaze lost to the horizon.

"Anyway! We should proceed quickly. We have a match to finish."

* * *

Shyvana really wanted to win this match. When she had heard she would be facing Swain, she had made a bet with Jarvan IV that she would easily win. She had also been very pleased to learn Orianna would be fighting by her side, since she had heard about the young woman's accomplishments earlier that day.

But since the teammate she had been placing her hopes on seemed to be losing, the half-dragon decided to gank her lane.

She silently crept through the high grass, sharpening her senses to get any information on the lane's current state. But she could only hear the faint clashing of metal on wood: minions. She listened again, but nothing indicated the presence of either Swain nor Orianna.

" _Weird_ " she thought to herself " _Are they both dead?_ "

Judging it was worth taking a risk, she left the cover of her bush and carefully walked on the lane. She really didn't want to lose to Swain, and her tension was almost palpable. One would have had a hard time trying to describe her inner reaction when she finally spotted the two midlaners.

Orianna and Swain were on a rock, on the other side of the lane, sitting side by side, a few sheets of paper spread in front of them. Shyvana didn't move an inch, her mind struggling to take a grasp at the situation. The scene was just too absurd.

Eventually, her emotions got the better of her. She was confused, but above all she was angry. Angry at Orianna for not trying to win, but mostly angry at Swain…for being Swain. She dashed forward, jumping over the minions. She could feel her rage growing within her like a howling flame. It grew and grew, and she felt like it was eating her from the inside. But she knew that feeling.

Mid-air, she spread her arms and roared. She felt her fingers turn into claws, and the wind getting caught in the wings that suddenly ornated her arms. Her body grew, and her skin was soon covered I scales. With a flap of her wings, she rose high above the two mages. They had just noticed her, and she could see the surprised look on their faces. She chuckled internally as she imagined how frightening it had to be to see a giant dragon suddenly rushing towards oneself.

But her joy rapidly faded as she heard an unexpected sound: the croaking of crows. By sheer coincidence, the enemy jungler had settled on a plan very similar to hers. He had been channelling his magic from behind the bushes to prepare a surprise attack.

Fiddlesticks appeared on the rock, right in front of Orianna and Swain. Thousands of crows were flying around him in wide circles. From then on, hell broke loose. Orianna managed to salvage most of what she and Swain had been writing, and put some distance between her and the fight.

Looking back, she spotted Shyvana and Fiddlesticks locked in a mortal combat. Swain had transformed back into a demon, and his ravens were joining the Harbinger's crows to form a thick cloud of black feathers. Shyvana was spitting fire at the birds, furiously biting and clawing through the moving mass as she tried to crush the scarecrow that was hiding within. Postponing her personal worries, Orianna propelled her ball forwards to help out the raging dragon.

Other champions soon joined the fight, and the match turned into a constant battle on midlane. Orianna's team eventually achieved to get the upper hand, and the match ended quickly after.

Even though it ended without Orianna getting another chance to talk to Swain, she had what she needed. The message was still too long, but by extracting the core ideas, she was confident she could make an adequate answer.

When she finally reappeared in the large room where champions and summoners gather after each match, she didn't wait for the others nor for her own summoner. She headed straight towards the exit. Shyvana called after her, since she still wanted some explanation on what had happened earlier in the match, but Orianna was too absorbed in her thoughts to notice her. She rushed back to her room, and started writing her letter.


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello! I made it before the end of the month (yeaah). I thought I'd try to tell the story through Sona's point of view too, I hope you'll like it ^^' tell me what you thought of it, and see you in the next chapter!  
_

Chapter 4 : An ink tongue

Sona was exhausted. These last two days had been very eventful, and she had gone through quite the hardships. Her room had been the first one hit by the fire, and at that time she had been taking a bath. She had lost everything except a towel, which she was forced to wear during half a day before a merciful summoner lent her one of her robes. Pictures of her were now being passed from hand to hand behind her back, and she could feel the looks of many when she walked down the halls. Some were filled with pity, other with straight up lust. Her good friend Lux had tried to help her forget by taking her out shopping for new furniture and clothes the whole morning.

But now that she was alone again her worries had come back. Another thing on her mind was her new neighbour, Katarina. She had made her acquaintance last night, through her ceiling, and had met her again earlier this afternoon, much to her dislike. Her previous neighbours, who happened to be Lux and Ahri, weren't bothered at all by her playing her etwhal whenever she pleased, but Katarina didn't seem to share that position. She had come to her apartment and had made quite clear that she didn't want to hear her ever again.

Even if Sona had felt a tad guilty at the sight of the dark rings the noxian was wearing under her eyes, she didn't want to give up her habits. But knowing that a nodded "No" would have been misinterpreted, making Katarina even madder, she would have had to resign and agree…if it wasn't for a real deus ex machina to happen. Orianna's intervention had been both very surprising and very helpful. Sona didn't know the woman personally, but she had heard much about her. Quite the frightening rumours were running about her, how she absorbed human souls to become more like them, or how some of the real Orianna's dead body parts were used to build her. If she didn't really believe them, Sona couldn't ignore them either, especially when she was standing in front of her, making one of the most frightening faces she had ever seen. But even if Orianna was scary, to say the least, she had been surprisingly kind. Sona was glad this matter with Katarina was solved, at least for the time being.

She sighed, relieved to see her problems disappear one by one. She was lying on the floor, pensively looking up to her ceiling. Most of her newly acquired furniture should, according to the merchant, be arriving this evening. But it was only the late afternoon, and her apartment was still completely empty. She was bored. She didn't feel like playing her etwhal, and Lux had a match to attend to. She considered looking for Taric, but he had seemed to be very close to Braum lately, and she didn't want to bother them.

Finally, she stood up, deciding she needed to get some fresh air. Even if it was already autumn, the sun that shined through her window from the cloud-tainted sky seemed warm and inviting. She strolled to her door, opened it…and stumbled back, gasping with surprise.

Orianna was standing right in front of her, her expressionless eyes slightly widening.

"Oh" Sona heard a cold and monotonous voice say "that is unpredicted. Would you please close that door so I can deliver my answer? Or have I misunderstood something. Should I transmit my message in another way?"

Sona stayed immobile, flabbergasted, and tried to calm her racing heart. Only after a while did she notice the folded paper Orianna was holding. Fumbling shortly in her pockets, Sona pulled out a notebook and a pen she always carried around. She saw Orianna's puzzled expression, and quickly wrote down a few words.

" **If you have a message for me, why not simply give it to me directly?** "

Orianna read the message, and took a step back.

"Excuse me, I have to go look for a similar notebook. I did not know of such a custom and came unprepared. We shall continue our discussion once I can properly answer you." She turned on her heels and started to walk away.

" _Is she making fun of me?_ " Sona was confused. She rushed after her and caught the woman by her elbow. Orianna stopped, her metallic brows furrowing as she turned around. But Sona didn't give her the time to talk and nearly shoved her notebook in her face.

" **Yes! I can't talk to you! So what? That doesn't mean you need a notebook to answer me! I can hear you just fine you know?** "

"Excuse me, I didn't want to be rude. Your manners are confusing and your customs seem complex, but I'm trying to behave appropriately. If I can just talk, then that is fine."

It was Sona's turn to frown.

" **Manners?** " she scribbled.

"Yes. I respect your choice not to talk, and I thought you expected me to do the same. But I was mistaken."

" _Doesn't she know…_ " " **I'm a mute.** "

Orianna looked at the simple sentence, and remained silent. After a while, she looked back up at Sona. Her expression was the definition of dumbfoundedness. It was so perfect that Sona couldn't hold back a silent laugh.

" _She doesn't look like it, but she can be also very cute…_ " Her reaction seemed to break Orianna's trance.

"Why I didn't consider such a simple possibility is unexplainable. I am very sorry if I hurt you."

Regaining her composure, Sona noted her answer." **You don't need to be. No harm's done. Now, won't you tell me your message?** " Sona smiled and pointed at the paper Orianna was holding.

"I shall proceed as asked. My message was initially a response to the letter you wrote me."

" **Letter?** "

As an answer, Orianna pulled out the mentioned piece of paper. As she looked upon her own words, Sona realized what Orianna was talking about.

" **So you were the one who knocked! Sorry, I thought Katarina was back for a 2nd round… But what did you want?** "

"Right. I was so absorbed by my answer that I completely forgot why I initially wanted to talk to you. I actually have some questions about a certain sound that was coming from your apartment."

" **Sound?** "

"Yes. Some would mistake it for music, but I think it is far more than that. Alas I do not know any word which meaning would fit."

" **You mean when I play the etwhal?** "

"I do not know the concept of etwhal."

" **It's not just a concept. It's an instrument. Let me show you.** "

And with that, Sona took Orianna's elbow again, and dragged her to her room.

" **Sorry you have to sit on the floor, but all my things were burned yesterday.** "

She left Orianna sitting in the middle of her living-room, and went to get her instrument. When she came back, she found the woman struggling to rewind her spring. Her arms were in her back, and her white shirt seemed stuck in the gears. Laying down her etwhal in front of her, Sona squatted and held up her notebook.

" **Need some help?** "

"I'm very embarrassed to ask this of you. But yes, it seems something is stuck."

" **No problem. By the way, this is my etwhal.** "

Sona pointed towards her instrument and smiled, then stood up and walked around the sitting girl. As she fumbled with the shirt, Orianna bent over and carefully pulled the etwhal closer.

"I always thought this was some kind of weapon."

Sona stopped her work for a second to write down a few words, then ripped the page out of her notebook and gave it Orianna over her shoulder.

" **I can use it to fight. But I don't like it. I much prefer playing it for fun.** "

"Is this were the sound I heard came from? If possible, would you mind…"

But she got cut off by the loud tearing of her shirt's fabric. Sona had accidentally put too much strength in her moves and was now holding the two separate ends of what remained of the clothing. Shocked, she slowly stood up, her hands shaking. Orianna didn't move an inch at first, but then her arms slowly bent back. Sona took a step back, and started to scribble in panic. " **I'm so sorry! Sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry…** "

But Orianna's hands, which she had thought were trying to grab her, just took a hold of the giant key that stuck out of her back, and started turning it.

"It seems the matter is resolved. Thank you, Miss Sona."

Sona rushed forward and knelt in front of Orianna, frantically writing again.

" **How is it resolved?! Your shirt! I'm so sorry!** "

"What about it? It is not stuck anymore, is it?"

" **Of course it isn't! It's ripped in two! Please please please don't be angry at me…** "

"I can't be angry even if I wanted to. And why would I be angry when you helped me? Oh and don't worry about the shirt, it was my last one anyway."

" **Your last one? What are you going to wear?! Stores are closed until tomorrow! Please take one of mine…** "

"No, please don't be bothered. This happens all the time. And walking around shirtless doesn't bother me in the least. I fight naked most of the time anyway, you know?"

That sudden realization stunned Sona for a while. " _That's right, she only wears clothes when she doesn't fight, or when a summoner happens to use a skin…Seems I'm the only one here who's bothered by walking around naked._ "

"Anyway" Orianna broke the silence "Would you mind playing the etwhal while I listen? I'm really curious about how it sounds."

Sona hesitated, but then smiled and nodded. " _That's the least I can do!_ "

She stood up and extanded her hands. The etwhal vibrated shortly, and started to float up until it softly bounced against her palms. Sona closed her eyes, inhaled, and started playing.


End file.
